Lu Ren supported himself with one hand, his feet never stopping, and directly climbed up, pulling Xiang Yang who was at the manhole cover out of the sewer.
Looking down from the edge of the manhole, the swiftly spreading black swarm of rats even gnawed the metal ladder into tatters, a sight that was truly horrifying.
A few rats the size of medium dogs, unwilling to give up, followed the ladder out of the sewer. Before they had any chance to react, Lu Ren swung his sword, cutting their bodies into several pieces.
Ignoring the system's skill level-up notification in his mind, Lu Ren retracted his blade, and with a swift kick, replaced the manhole cover. Watching the still-quivering lid, Xiang Yang reached for Lu Ren's hand but grabbed nothing but air.
She looked slightly confused; Lu Ren nodded towards the path ahead, "Lead the way."
Xiang Yang pursed her lips.
"Follow me!"
Lu Ren felt increasingly uneasy the further they went until he suddenly stopped, his face not looking quite right, "Where have you taken me?"
"Of course, to find a safe place!"
"Bullshit!"
Lu Ren's expression was very unhappy, an urge surged within him to kill Xiang Yang. He looked towards the building with a large hole crashed open in front.
"I've been here before, a lot of contaminated creatures are gathered around this building!"
This is seriously harmful; no wonder several exits in the sewers were bypassed.
Xiang Yang appeared somewhat guilty, looking a bit embarrassed, "I'm sorry, this is the Alternate Space generated testing center building. I didn't ask for your consent and I'm sorry, but I really didn't have a choice. I couldn't complete this task alone... I know I'm selfish, but..."
Upon realizing her strength was insufficient, she sought external factors; upon finding Lu Ren's skills better than hers, she targeted him.
Sure enough, without being shrewd, surviving in this city for over three years is impossible.
"No buts, I refuse."
Lu Ren looked at the sky, it was still early, he planned to leave immediately to find a safer place to hide, survive tonight first no matter what.
Seeing Xiang Yang's disappointed expression, Lu Ren spoke, "Girl, do things according to your abilities. If other human survivors exist in the world, then certainly there are individuals stronger than you. Why haven't they managed to close the Alternate Space Passage?"
Seeing Xiang Yang stubbornly silent, Lu Ren shook his head slightly, "If I were you, I'd try every possible way to return to human settlements, perhaps the survivors in the South Pole survivor base have already decided to abandon this planet and are preparing to go into outer space, who knows, so think carefully next time."
With that, Lu Ren no longer lingered. As his longsword moved slightly in his hand, he was about to strike towards Xiang Yang, but abruptly stopped, his face looking displeased at the sight ahead.
It was that giant mutant cow, just quietly staring at Lu Ren and Xiang Yang.
Mad, how did it appear without making a sound!
It's hauntingly ghost-like.
System: "Ding, the giant mutant cow has discovered you and it's happily wanting to run over for a big warm hug!"
A warm hug with flesh and blood flying everywhere?!
Hopefully, Xiang Yang hadn't noticed his small movements. He needed Xiang Yang, the old hand, to lead the way in this place; running around like a headless chicken could lead them into dangerous areas where there'd be no place to cry even if they got into trouble.
"Go! Lead the way!"
Hearing Lu Ren's uncompromising command, Xiang Yang pouted but didn't hesitate, immediately turning and dashing towards the building ahead.
Seeing this, Lu Ren couldn't help but feel a bit helpless. The building seemed off, but there was no sturdy cover around it, and the nearest building was eighty meters away, a gap wide enough for this monstrous beast to kill him on the spot.
He had no doubt about the terrifying power of this excessively large giant cow.
Xiang Yang paused for a moment, seeing Lu Ren speed past her, rushing to the building, then unhesitatingly turned to chase after Lu Ren's back.
"Wait, wait for me, you heartless guy!"
The two of them dashed into the building one after the other, the giant cow behind them bellowed lowly, the waves of sound sending up a cloud of dust, its heavy steps starting slow but gathering into a dense run, the ground seemed to tremble.
Lu Ren held his sword with both hands and quickly charged into the lobby.
Xiang Yang, close behind, quickly said, "Follow me!"
As he spoke, Xiang Yang's steps didn't pause, darting past Lu Ren towards a column inside the lobby, patting randomly on the column's surface until an LCD panel quietly revealed itself, prompting for a password input.
Xiang Yang was exhilarated, seeming pleasantly surprised that she discovered it at once.
"Password, password… password!"
Xiang Yang muttered hastily, words urgent, trying to recall, her fingers flicking over the password keypad.
Lu Ren couldn't help but voice, "If you can't remember, get upstairs first, that cow is about to come in."
He couldn't help but glance at the top of the spiral staircase to the second floor, where a black polluted creature crouched, looking like a tentacle monster.
With the weapon advantage, it should be possible to rush through.
In any case, it was better than waiting here to die.
The main entrance of this building had already become a hole, obviously formed by a huge collision, and that giant cow was about to rush into the lobby. By then, based on its incoming speed, Lu Ren felt he wouldn't have any chance to dodge.
The opponent's speed was too fast, with a huge collision surface, plus the shockwaves from its mooing, it was simply a killing machine.
Lu Ren took a deep breath, watching Xiang Yang who was almost in a trance, ready to leave first when Xiang Yang exclaimed, "It's open, it's open, my dad's password was correct!"
Zzz!
A sudden electric current sounded, the column's side slid open, revealing an entrance resembling an elevator.
And the giant cow was already outside the lobby, its blood-red eyes staring directly at Lu Ren, the ground trembling with its running, the sense of pressure and terror far beyond ordinary imagination.
Especially when directly facing the enlarging image of the giant cow, its terrifying impact speed.
"Get in quickly!"
Lu Ren had no time to think too much; there were too many polluted creatures here. If he hadn't escaped immediately earlier, he might have been besieged by polluted creatures.
If he hesitated for another moment, he'd definitely be slammed by that giant cow. Now all he could do was pray the elevator was made of high-strength composite metal, capable of withstanding the impact, or that it would shoot straight down once inside.
After entering the passage with Xiang Yang, the elevator door swiftly closed, then rapidly descended, a sudden centrifugal weightlessness barely experienced before a sudden thunderous crash erupted above.
Lu Ren instinctively looked up, but aside from the elevator ceiling, there was no sound.
It seemed to be a magnetic track elevator; otherwise, the shattering impact from above would definitely affect it.
"You look drenched in sweat." Xiang Yang beside him suddenly teased.
Lu Ren barely restrained the urge to cut her, filled with an urge to vent anger, but knowing that he needed Xiang Yang for what lay next; without her, the testing center below might encounter significant trouble.
He glanced meaningfully at Xiang Yang, calmly speaking, "If you ever have the chance not to face a giant beast head-on charging straight at you, I imagine you'd wet your pants."
This woman wasn't simple, appearing steadfast with a pure belief that those with determination can prevail.